The aim of this proposal is to provide the PI the opportunity to pursue theoretical and methodological development in a new field of research on explanatory models of sex differences in mortality in human populations across the life course. This will be accomplished by permitting me to seek training in the biological sciences to create an integrated social and biodemographic approach. The goal is to extend my previous training within the population level of analysis to interdisciplinary research on the interconnections between social forces and the biological processes of disease across levels of organization. The training focuses on population studies of biological mechanisms of inflammation and infections, fat and glucose metabolism aka metabolic syndrome, sex differences in these biological functions, their genetic origins and relationships to sex hormonal changes over the course of human development and aging, evolution of sex differences and basics of heritable genetic diseases.